the business of reconciliation.

so this isn’t really a camp update, but i was having some time with God while going through hebrews, and there was just some awesome stuff that the Lord highlighted for me. i just really want to share.

hebrews is basically all about how awesome Jesus is, and how He is a better everything than anyone or anything else. there’s a lot of dry and possibly boring context i could lay out for you, but suffice it to say that the author wrote to his or her readers in order to communicate that Jesus was the best sacrifice, the best priest, and therefore the only One worthy of praise and worship.

while i was reading, this word, reconcile, kept popping into my mind. it’s such a rich word, with such beautiful connotations that back it up. it’s a happy ending word, one that accompanies the best of stories and the warmest and fuzziest of feelings. i began to journal. thoughts just kind of poured out one after another, and i knew before i was done that i was going to share this stuff with you guys, for no other reason than the fact that God is awesome, and Jesus is, in every single sense of the word, the best. these were my thoughts:

Jesus is the harmonizer of all discord. He came to be a servant, to act as a reconciler of God and all human beings. and the (not so) simple truth is that Jesus is literally the only one who could do that. it’s not like God’s people were offering up goats on the altar and after a while God decided they just weren’t good enough. they were never good enough, but God always allowed them in order to stay His just wrath. Jesus was always the only One who could take away our sins. and by take away, i mean that He took the consequence of God’s holy wrath because of them. willingly. and because of this, we have been reconciled to the Creator of the universe. we can have a personal relationship with Him. reconciliation and redemption aren’t just churchy words–they best describe our stance in relation to a holy God upon receiving the benefits of Christ’s life and death.

rec·on·cile [rek-uhn-sahyl] (v.):to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent

re·deem [ri-deem](v.):
to recover by payment or other satisfaction

we as human beings long for this kind of reconciliation. we ache for it. that’s why we experience tears of joy when we see a father reunited with his son after long years of anger and separation, or get chills when we hear the resolved chord of a previously dissonant piece, or root for the good guy in a romantic movie. we love when people are reconciled. which makes complete sense–we were created to crave it. it’s what we were originally built for, to function in a world without disharmony.

but of course there is discord–sin entered the world and because of it, there is pain, war, suffering, and every other bad thing. brother fights brother, friends cut each other down with careless words, people rise up to oppress and kill others. and we are all keenly aware of the fact that, deep down, there is something wrong with this world.

that’s why the gospel is such good news! that’s why Jesus is such a big deal! He brings this reconciliation that we so desperately long for. it doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen–we are still sinful–but it does mean that the battle, the discord inside every woman and man, is being fought alongside the Creator of the entire universe at your side. and He wins all His battles.

lots of times there’s this questions of why sin is in the world. why did God let it happen? after all, it’s not like He didn’t know Adam and Eve were going to eat the apple. wouldn’t it have been way easier if He had just skipped all that trouble with sin and just made sure we stayed perfect?

but the most wonderful stories, the most captivating music, all have conflict and discord at some point. that’s what makes the resolution so beautiful.

my name is brad.

i'm all about sharing the things i love with the people i love. there are lots of awesome things that i've been blessed with... God, humor, stories, camp, friends, family. this is a place for my ideas and experiences (the wonderful ones, the tough ones, and everything in between) to have a home and be shared with the people i love. thanks for stopping by. feel free to stick around.